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Tigo Pegs U.S.$100 Million for Rural Tanzania(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The country's oldest mobile operator, Tigo is to invest Tsh167 billion (about $104 million) a year for modernizing and expanding its network coverage to rural areas. Tigo's Managing Director, Diego Gutierrez told East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam recently, they have embarked on an unrivalled investment drive to extend and upgrade its operational landscape specifically to rural areas. "Currently, we are investing about Tsh3.2 billion ($2 million) a week to modernize and expand coverage our network to the remote areas," Gutierrez said. Gutierrez said this translates to some Tsh457 million (about $285,625) every day and almost Tsh167 billion ($104.38 million) by year end. "We intend to maintain this level of investment for years to come," he told East African Business Week. "Tigo will maintain this unprecedented level of investment for quite some time with a focus to opening up uncovered areas especially the remotest parts of the country with poor reach of mobile phone services," he said. In the period 2013-2014, he said they are rolling out more than 600 new sites in Tanzania, especially in areas where we're currently not that strong and in the rural areas. "Our commitment to the country is big he said adding we believe in this country and we think that there is a lot of room to keep on growing," he said. When asked by East African Business Week, how he scrutinized environment of doing telecom business since he started operation in the country, he says that he is happy with the sectoral regulatory framework. "I believe that there is more to be done to attract increased investment to the sector and in the process, optimize its contribution to the economy," he said. According to him, Tanzania still offers significant growth opportunities as the mobile business is probably an area that has grown faster than other areas. He noted that but they have important streams, for example data and mobile financial services, where they are just scratching the surface. "We look for favourable terms in policy making and in taxation. We look for predictability and stability in terms of these two things because if you look at long-term returns on your investment you need to be able to understand how those variables are going to behave. I do believe that this is something that if it is achieved will allow the sector to grow even further," he said. The mobile phone was recently recognized by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) as being the third most successful mobile financial services player in the world. Late last year, the company won the Highly Commended Award under the Best Network Improvement category, awarded by global mobile association. The magic wand behind Tigo's success has been its focus on consolidating its competitive merits through innovation, he said adding that Tigo is a business which has permanently innovated new products, new promotions and new pricing. Early this year, Tigo Tanzania partnered Tigo Rwanda to launch the world's first ever cross border mobile wallet to wallet money transfer with currency conversion. This landmark innovation has been tipped to take the two East African states' cross border trade to new levels as traders on either side enjoy the freedom to send and receive money on their handsets round the clock. This was closely followed by another first in April when the company teamed up with the world's social media giant, Facebook, to give its customers unprecedented free access to Facebook and for the first time, making the service available in Kiswahili language. This initiative means opening new social, economic and business opportunities to the 6.5 million Tigo subscribers who can now interact freely with over 1.2 billion Facebook users worldwide. The latest innovation came in May this year when Tigo integrated its mobile financial services with two other mobile companies to allow wallet to wallet money transfer across the three networks. The first of its kind in Africa, the move is widely seen as a milestone development that could rapidly turn around Tanzania's financial inclusion which now stands at 48%. The company has the biggest agent network in Dar es Salaam and it recently became the first mobile company in East Africa to pioneer a mobile application which smartphone users can download to enjoy more simplified mobile financial services transactions. Tigo has also recently ventured into the use of its own fibre network to support the growing demand from Tanzania's businesses for fast online connections. These innovations, according to the Managing Director, not only place the company in a class of its own but also make it the most endeared brand in the hearts of its customers. "We want to be seen as a responsible corporate citizen that not only runs a business in this country but also gives back to the communities where we operate," he said. Through its corporate responsibility initiatives, Tigo in partnership with UNICEF is implementing a mobile birth registration program in rural areas with a target to register one million by 2016. And to solve educational and learning challenges facing Tanzanian children, Tigo has been investing $75,000 annually to operationalize brilliant ideas brought forward by Tanzanian social entrepreneurs in partnership with Reach for Change. Tanzania has over 10 mobile financial services users out of whom 3.5 million are Tigo Pesa subscribers but the biggest challenge is that most of these services are being offered to urban areas and leave people in the rural areas behind. There is a need for the mobile phone companies to increase investment to the remote areas, this would help to open up these areas in terms of business as well as improving standard of lives of people in these areas. Copyright East African Business Week. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |